NOW CLOSED: Join the review thread for George Foreman Grills - share an idea for what you'd cook on one - you could win your own grill worth £40

[AnnMumsnet]

George Foreman Grills recently gave ten Mumsnetters the opportunity to try out a selection of their grills at a demo day in Manchester, where they got to experience the versatility and simplicity of cooking with a George Foreman.
Another ten reviewers were also sent grills to try out.

The four different models used in the demos were:
~ 18603 Grill & Griddle
~ 14525 Grill & Melt with Removable Plates
~ 14181 Grill & Melt

and the extra 10 testers are trying the 19570 Family Grill

Testers: This thread is for you to share your experience with the George Foreman grills, and to start you off we would love to know:

1. What have you learnt to cook with a George Foreman Grill? What would you like to learn to cook in the future?

1. Are there any features of your Grill you would like to know more about? What's the best feature you've discovered so far?

1. What would make you use your Grill more regularly? How many times a week are you using it?

1. How long do you spend cooking for your family on an average day? How has the grill helped with this?

1. Generally speaking, which is more important to you: healthy eating or quick preparation time?

1. What have you and your family thought of the meals you have created? What's been a success? And what's not been quite so good?

1. What would you say was the best feature or benefit of the George Foreman Grill you have used?

And if you attended the George Foreman demo day, please also answer:

~ What was your perception of George Foreman Grills prior to the demo day?
~ How did your perception change from what you experienced on the demo day?
~ What did you most enjoy about the day?

If you're not an official tester, but would like the chance to win a new George Foreman Grill (RRP: £40) then all you have to do is - on this thread - please share your ideas for a quick and easy meal which you could create with one. Once you've commented you'll be automatically entered into the draw to win a George Foreman Family Grill & Melt with Removable Plate.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

[johnworf]

1. What have you learnt to cook with a George Foreman Grill? What would you like to learn to cook in the future?

We learnt to cook easy apple bites, spring rolls, salmon in dijon mustard/yoghurt sauce, pancakes, pitta bites plus lots more I've forgotten (not cheating and looking at my recipe cards)

I've started experimenting already but I'd love to cook more healthy quick meals that all the family can enjoy. Already eyed up the GF recipe book.

2. Are there any features of your Grill you would like to know more about? What's the best feature you've discovered so far?

I think we covered all the features on the presentation day. The best feature so far on my grill is the fact that both grill and griddle operate independently of each other and, they are both thermostatically controlled so I can cook at different temperatures on each side.

3. What would make you use your Grill more regularly? How many times a week are you using it?

I'm using it everyday already! I'm starting to think about life pre-George and how I used to cook.

4. How long do you spend cooking for your family on an average day? How has the grill helped with this?

I used to cook only the evening meal when I got in from work and I still do this but it takes less time and probably less electricity.

The cooking time on the grill is a fraction of the time using the hob/oven plus, I can usually incorporate most of the ingredients onto the grill saving not only time, but washing up.

I've now got time to make the children pancakes from scratch in the morning for breakfast. They are thrilled!

5. Generally speaking, which is more important to you: healthy eating or quick preparation time?

Both are very important to me but at the moment I'm trying to lose weight as I'm diabetic. I've been cooking a lot of eggs on the griddle as I do not need to add oil. It's amazing.

6. What have you and your family thought of the meals you have created? What's been a success? And what's not been quite so good?

Family are very impressed with it so far. My biggest success has been the chicken nuggets I made for the children (I made a big batch and froze some and the children ate what was left). My pancakes stuck the first time I used them on the griddle but I think this might be because the machine hadn't been used before. They've been fine subsequently.

7. What would you say was the best feature or benefit of the George Foreman Grill you have used?

The best for me is that you don't need to use any fat/oil to cook your food. If there is fat on what you're cooking, in particular bacon, you can see it run off into the drip bowl (and I think great, that's not going onto my stomach as fat).

And if you attended the George Foreman demo day, please also answer:

~ What was your perception of George Foreman Grills prior to the demo day?

I already had a GF grill albeit an old one so I had a basic understanding of how they worked. I thought they were useful but limited in their uses.

~ How did your perception change from what you experienced on the demo day?

I couldn't believe just how versatile the grill was and all the recipes we tried were brilliant.

~ What did you most enjoy about the day?

Everything! The presentation team were fab, the information was very good and the demonstrations were all informative, friendly and non-fussy. Great seeing so many MNetters in real life too (v friendly bunch and not one viper).

[gazzalw]

Non tester here but a scrummy evening treat: banana and chocolate spread in Vogel bread toasted - with a cup of hot chocolate - guaranteed to add the perfect ending to a day!

[johnworf]

gazzalw I've done cheese on toast and also, ahem, nutella on toast on the grill part. V addictive!

[PeachActiviaMinge]

Non tester but how about flattened chicken breast rolled around spinach and chilli cheese then brushed with cajun seasoning and a little oil

[devonshiredumpling]

make a cheese sandvich with anything(pickle sweet corn onion etc) and grill we call ours level crossing sandwiches and serve with tomato soup

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Ooh I've never used one of these. I'm a vegetarian and have tended to assume that they are mostly for meat. But my sister made me a fantastic veggie burger on one:

• halloumi
  
• a big mushroom
  
• some chunks of red onion
  

Cooked in the grill and then put into a soft roll with salad and chilli sauce. Gorgeous.

[sharond101]

Non tester recipe idea. Slice a ciabatta roll in half and toast both halves on silced side until it gets charred marks , set aside. Quarter a red pepper and char skin side down until blackened. Peel skin from pepper. Now grill a sliced chicken breast you have left marinading in 1tbsp honey mixed with 1tsp wholegrain mustard. Remove when cooked through. Spoon some coleslaw onto ciabatta then place pepper on top and chicken on top of that. Top with other half of ciabatta roll and enjoy.

[WildThongsHeartString]

Non reviewer here.

My dsis does have a GF grill
Her top recipe can be adapted for vegetarians (use slices of aubergine instead of the meat)
2 slices per person of thin slice meat escalope eg turkey/pork/sandwich steak. Any nice grilling cheese in the middle of the meat slices, sprinkle of italian herbs on the cheese. Sandwich up the cheese between the meats and grill til oozing. Yummy with baked potato or buttered pasta.

[ohforfoxsake]

Just marking my place - am going to do tasks and feedback tomorrow.

Have eaten a lot of cheese toasties this week.

[FadBook]

Marking place as I received my Family Grill today. We have cooked tea on it tonight and it was quick to do (bit of chicken breast and peppers) but need to cook some other things before reviewing

[25042013]

So far I've done toasties in mine, and crumpets, fish fingers from frozen, bacon, sausages, halloumi cheese, all cooked really well. Am away from Mon - Fri next week but I'll do more and more - loving it!

[FizzySmiles]

I love to make toasted sandwiches with skinless sausages and cheese. Add the ketchup for the finishing touch.

Also Discovery jalepeno wraps with cheese and toasted in the George Foreman is just perfect and very addcitive. The pack is finished before you know it.

[StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes]

not a tester but I would cook yummy lamb kebabs with peppers and onion on skewers, flour tortillas sandwiched with jalepenos and cheese and grilled, pannini rolls with bacon, mushroom and cheese mmmmmm mouth watering

[Houseinmerseyside]

I love my George foreman but had to ditch it and get a new one after cooking salmon on it. I never could get it to stop stinking the house out while eating up after that!

[Clawdy]

Not a tester but used to have a much-loved GF grill. I would cook sliced aubergine,green pepper,portobello mushrooms and thinly sliced butternut squash. Delicious piled onto crusty buttered bread.

[SamraLee]

non-tester.

I would love to cook a simple hamburger or bbq chicken. Ahh I miss having BBQ'd food.

Take a chicken breast (pork loin chops work well too, but can dry out a bit), cook until almost done then slather both sides generously with BBQ sauce and continue grilling until a slight glaze forms. Heaven. Serve with corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, various other cold salads and you have a lovely summer meal straight from my childhood 'get togethers'.

[TerraNotSoFirma]

Non-tester but used to have a GF.
Loved it for grilling chicken breast pieces whilst the stir fry veg was cooking, chuck together with some sauce and its on the table in 7ish minutes.
Also came in handy when BBQs were rained off :)

[Tee2072]

Non-tester.

I had a GF grill ages ago, at least 10 years as I was living in the US.

I used to love making chicken on it, with a bit of BBQ sauce. So quick and clean up was a snap yet tasted like it was done outside.

[BrittaPie]

1. What have you learnt to cook with a George Foreman Grill? What would you like to learn to cook in the future?
   

Learned all sorts - I can't even remember what (without getting out the recipe cards) but the main thing I learned was the general principle - essentially that it is worth trying almost anything on it...

1. Are there any features of your Grill you would like to know more about? What's the best feature you've discovered so far?
   

I'm loving how easy it is to clean - as soon as I take the food off, I just get a really wet sponge and wipe it down. It I have been cooking something really sticky I might need to wet the sponge two or three times (because obviously the heat dries it) but it never takes more than a couple of minutes.

1. What would make you use your Grill more regularly? How many times a week are you using it?
   

I've used it every day, several times a day, since I got it. So not sure it is even possible to use it more...

1. How long do you spend cooking for your family on an average day? How has the grill helped with this?
   

TBH, I am probably spending very slightly longer, but it is because it is making cooking "proper food" achievable - before I got it I was just shoving stuff in the microwave because I couldn't be bothered.

1. Generally speaking, which is more important to you: healthy eating or quick preparation time?
   

Quick preparation time, definitely.

1. What have you and your family thought of the meals you have created? What's been a success? And what's not been quite so good?
   

We have invented "fish wobbles", which are essentially fish fingers, but cut inexpertly. My 6yo and 3yo DDs love helping, and it means they are eating actual proper fresh fish, not to mention handling it and trying different types of fish to compare.

Not so good was probably heating some shop bought crumpets - they came out soggy, but I think I should have used the "melt" function really.

1. What would you say was the best feature or benefit of the George Foreman Grill you have used?
   

Quick cooking and cleaning. A huge plus when you are as disorganised as me.

And if you attended the George Foreman demo day, please also answer:

~ What was your perception of George Foreman Grills prior to the demo day?

I thought they were basically a hard to clean way to cook sausages and that was it.

~ How did your perception change from what you experienced on the demo day?

I saw that I could cook all sorts of random stuff :-)

~ What did you most enjoy about the day?

It was really good fun chatting about grills (I know, weird) and I got to eat loads of stuff. Which is basically the way to my heart.

[BrittaPie]

Want to know the recipe for fish wobbles?

1. Buy a lump of fish. Basically anything - we liked haddock.
   

1. Grill some bread in the george. Prop up like a tent to get all crispy. Crumble. (children can do this bit)
   

1. Chop the fish (use scissors or a sharp knife) into vaguely finger like shapes
   

1. Put flour (and herbs if you want) on one plate, whisked egg in a bowl and breadcrumbs on another plate.
   

1. Get children to dip fish in flour, then egg, then crumbs. It doesn't have to be perfect.
   

1. Whack on the george. Takes 3-7 minutes to cook, depending on the thickness of the fish.
   

1. Wipe george down, then whack some veg on there.
   

1. Serve.
   

1. Yum.
   

(remember to air your kitchen or it will stink of fish)

[BrittaPie]

Oh, and pepperoni pizza pitta pockets!

Basically, get pitta bread and give it to children. Encourage them to fill it with tomato puree, mozzerella, pepperoni, cheddar and any other random bits of nibbly shite you have hanging about.

Put in George.

Eat.

(I basically make my children make their own tea, I just do the hot or sharp bits. They need to pull their weight, the youngest is three, does she think this is a hotel???)

[AnnMumsnet]

lovin' the details brittapie and getting the kids involved....very wholesome

[VeganCow]

Hot Hummous Wrap (vegetarian):

Fill a wrap with Hummous, peppers, red onion, spinach

Grill for couples minutes in the George Foreman.

[HamletsSister]

Kebabs - buy sticks - get children to cut up lots and lots of bits of veg, meat etc. Skewer onto sticks in some kind of interesting order and then stick in the grill. You can do fruit ones as well and some fruit is surprisingly delicious when warmed and toasted. Serve the savoury one with a yoghurt and mint dip with salad. The sweet one is just asking to be dipped in chocolate or with vanilla ice cream.

[WeAreEternal]

Not a tester but I used to have a much loved GF grill.

My favourite recipe was salt and pepper crusted tofu, I still love it but it isn't the same cooked in a pan.

DPs favourite was always teriyaki beef kebabs.
Chunks of beef maranaided in soy sauce, garlic, ginger and honey then skewered with mushrooms red peppers and red onion.
DP could live on them.

DS loved home made fish fingers and chunky chips, which could both be cooked on the GF grill together. It was super easy and such a great meal.